A Winter With Loki
by xRDJ603
Summary: The Avengers had just spent their entire summer with the God of Mischief. Can they handle him for the winter months as well? Having Loki back safely in their arms, (with the exception of a few scars) the gang will be back to their usual antics in no time. After all, Loki should enjoy the snow, right? Sequel to A Summer With Loki.
1. Lights Out

**A/N: Just wanted to say I love each and every one of you who enjoyed ASWL and I hope you enjoy AWWL just as much! I have the best reviewers in the world!**

**Chapter 1: Lights Out**

It had been nearly three months since the Avengers had spent their summer with Loki, and most of them had nearly forgotten about their temporary companion. That was, _most _of them.

Thor had still been forbidden to travel to Asgard, and was still frightened for Loki's safety after what Odin had promised to do to him. He had been planning for a while to try and force his way back, thinking he might be able to bargain with his father in causing less damage to Loki than more. Each day he would try and contact Odin, and after that Heimdall. Yet every time he was denied. To sum up Thor's last few months, he spent his entire time taking out his frustration from his father in helping save the Earth. The more he talked about Asgard or Loki, the more rage he felt pool in his stomach. The thought of his little brother being harmed by Odin's hand made him furious, and an incredible hero because of it. Despite the constant denial Thor was receiving, he would try again and again to try and contact Odin. This continued on to no avail, until one attempt where he felt a secure connection, and he_ went for it._

**xxx**

Throughout the fall and beginning of winter, Tony Stark had been spending his time working hard to upgrade his suit, and going on mission after mission to keep himself occupied. Bruce was right, and Pepper had stopped by for a short time while her vacation had lasted. He needed the distraction of having Pepper around, it made him not feel as sick each time he thought of Loki being taken from him with the promise of torture. The thought that Loki had been stripped from them without so much as a goodbye made Tony's stomach ache with guilt, making him more than grateful when Pepper had stopped by.

But soon enough, Pepper had to leave on another business trip and Tony had come to the conclusion that having a girlfriend who was a CEO sucked. She was almost always away now, and couldn't be at his side 24/7 like he grew accustomed to. Now Tony had his missions, and Pepper had her meetings. Even for their Christmas break she had gone away to England to discuss some issues with Stark Industries and their clean energy program. Tony would have come along too, if it weren't for the huge threat in Hong Kong that apparently had the magnitude of Godzilla. With the date getting closer to the end of the Mayan calendar, and then a huge Godzilla like creature coming out of the sea, The Avengers had no choice but to suit up and save the world again, ruining their Christmas break.

All in all, Tony had come back with nearly every part of his body bruised, and had spent the last few days of 2012 in bed. No end of the year partying for him, just his bed, his pillows, and a whole ton of painkillers. On New Years Eve, he was skyping Pepper from his bed, telling her the extent of his injuries.

"And how's your back feeling now?" Pepper asked, sipping her mug of tea in England appropriately.

"My back?" Tony sighed, "It hurts."

"Maybe you should go and see a doctor. They do help people, you know."

"No. Not happening. If Batman can have his broken _spine_ repaired without seeing a doctor, Iron man can manage a few bruises."

Pepper let out a soft chuckle, "Tony, Batman isn't real."

"Hey, maybe to you he's not." Tony challenged with a grin.

Pepper just shook her head at him with a lazy smile. "Okay, Tony."

Tony smiled back to her in return, "Pep, in all seriousness, I'll be fine okay? My back actually does feel a lot better today. I think I'll get out of bed soon."

Pepper wasn't sure whether to believe him or not just yet, but decided not to call him out on it. "Alright." she said, taking her eyes away from Tony for a moment to check the time on her computer. She watched the clock tick away from 11:59 to 12:00 and brought her attention back to her boyfriend. The sound of shouts and noise makers could be heard from the hotel rooms beside her, and she stifled a laugh.

Tony raised his eyebrows before he realized what was happening. "Ah, right, the time change." he chuckled.

Pepper nodded with a smile. "Happy New Year Tony."

Tony smirked as she blew him a kiss, "Happy New Years Pep."

She gave him a soft smile, "I wish you were h-"

Tony frowned, the video paused. His videos never paused. He had the best wifi in all of New York, Tony Stark's internet connection was flawless.

"Pep?" he tried, sitting up in bed a bit to try and asses the problem. "…Jarvis?"

Suddenly, all the lights began to flicker, and with no reply from Jarvis Tony began to worry. He swung his legs over the side of his bed for the first time in a few days and groaned as his back popped a couple times. He was about to stand up when all of the lights went out in the room. He blinked a few times, adjusting to the darkness and looked around, confused as to why any of this was happening. He reached for his phone on the bedside table and missed, successfully knocking it off and down the crack between the table and his bed. He groaned, bending down for it; making his back scream at him from the action. When he finally fished it out, he gingerly stood back up, only to hit his head on the lampshade and disorient himself even more. He moaned in pain, fixing the lampshade the best he could in the dark before he was suddenly assaulted by a surge of brightness from all the lights coming back on. "Agh what the hell is going on!" he yelped out, completely frustrated with the situation at hand and sitting down on the bed in defeat, rubbing his poor eyes.

Jarvis's crisp voice rang throughout the room, answering his call for help. "Sir, I would advise you visiting Doctor Banner's floor to answer some of your questions."

"Bruce?" Tony harrumphed and stood back up. "Damn right I will, did he blow something up? Why did you go offline? You never go offline. It's like an EMP went off in here."

Jarvis was about to reply to his master, but decided it would be useless since Tony was already stomping his way out the door.

On Bruce's floor, him Steve, Clint, and Natasha had all just come in through the balcony, looking rather unfazed to the power surges.

Tony burst through the doorway and walked right up to his group of friends. "Hey! What was that?" he demanded, clearly annoyed.

"Well, Thor had-"

Tony cut him off. "You know, I said it was cool to experiment in here, but with something that powerful, I thought I'd at least get a warning! You pushed Jarvis offline!"

Bruce shook his head. "Tony, it wasn't me it was Thor."

Tony looked like he was about to explode. "Wha... THOR?! YOU LET THOR-"

Bruce rolled his eyes, "Are you kidding." he mumbled under his breath.

Steve then spoke up, "Tony listen! Thor went back to Asgard!"

Everybody stood in silence then, Tony's face of anger soon fading away into one of concern. He looked around, noticing Thor's absence only now.

"That, that doesn't explain…"

Steve shook his head. "He was too worried about Loki and he _forced_ his way back. Said he felt some sort of connection and could conjure himself back there?" he asked, looking to Bruce for help.

Tony raised an eyebrow, impressed with Steve's ability to comprehend that all.

"Thor said he could muster enough energy to get himself back there. He was being blocked out from all connection until today, and I guess he went for it. He said he had a bad feeling about Loki. And the energy from the portal, and his lightning didn't mix well with the buildings electric system I guess."

Tony frowned ignoring the last bit, he hadn't heard much about Loki out loud lately. "…Odin said if he tried to interfere he would only make Loki's punishment worse."

"We know, but Thor said he had a plan." Bruce sighed.

"You really should have seen him. The guy was nearly foaming at the mouth, he was unstoppable." Natasha piped in.

Tony blew out a puff of air, "And none of you tried to go with him?"

Natasha shook her head. "He picked up his hammer and made it very clear not to help him. We couldn't do anything but watch really. This is magic, Tony. We don't know how to control any of this stuff."

"Yet," Bruce clarified.

Tony sighed, supposing he would have to accept the situation for what it was. He glanced around to his fellow avengers before running his hands though his hair, "… So, what now?"

It was silent, until Clint spoke up for the first time after Tony's outburst. "…Nice boxers."

Tony looked down to his outfit for the first time, he was sporting an old battered t-shirt and his favourite pair of red boxers.

"You know? They are nice, thank you." Tony shot back sarcastically, before moving to sit down on one of the couches in the room.

Natasha stifled a laugh and Clint rolled his eyes.

"So, how come I didn't get a run down on the most current events?" Tony complained, stretching out somewhat comfortably on the couch.

"We didn't want to interrupt your whining." Bruce smirked, shoving Tony's legs over so he could sit beside him.

Tony glared at him but moved his legs off. "I was not whining."

All of the avengers raised their eyebrows, and looked to each other before they all started laughing. "Are you kidding?" Clint questioned sarcastically, "'My back hurts. I'm sore, I can't get out of bed, I need a drink." Clint teased, "Shall I go on?"

Tony shook his head, "I may have said one or two of those things."

Natasha raised a challenging eyebrow to him, clearing her throat pointedly.

"Oh fine, maybe all of them." he admitted, "But that doesn't matter. Anything concerning Loki, I want in on it from now on. Deal?"

Bruce nodded, agreeing silently.

"But what's done is done, I guess." Tony sighed, "What does matter now is that… Thor may have just made Loki's punishments ten times worse."

Clint shrugged, "Well maybe he deserves this."

Everyone turned to face Clint, Tony cocking his head to the side almost maniacally.

"Seriously? Clint, what did you just say?"

"You know what Loki did. And since we can't punish him on earth he's getting punished at home, big deal." he said, shrugging.

Tony sat up, even though it hurt his back, he made sure he was locking eyes with Clint. "So you think torture, is a proper punishment?"

Clint stiffened a bit from Tony's response. "Well, no but-"

"Exactly, and that's what it is. Torture. Sure we know Loki has some definite _issues,_ and was being manipulated by the tesseract... But, getting your lips sewn together? Does no one remember the scary story Loki told us that one night around the campfire? The one that made everyone freaked out and sick to their stomach? Yeah, well, now that's a reality for him." Tony said, his gaze never faltering from Clint's. "Still think he deserves that?"

Clint stayed silent, his eyes moving to the floor.

"Good," Tony said, ending the discussion at least for now.

Everyone looked around awkwardly to each other, the change of moods in the room being exhausting.

Tony spoke up again, apparently not finished just yet. "...Now, someone hand me a drink so we can await Thor's return and this _great start_ to the new year."

And a great start it was going to be.

**A/N: Wow guys! I was not expecting the support from the last story, and all the encouraging emails to get me writing this sequel! All I ask of you guys is to leave a review! Start this story off with a bang! It would be the best late christmas/new years gift ever! As always, you guys rock! **

**Thanks so much!**

**Oh, also! People who hate Pepper! No worries, we won't be seeing much of her, unless I get an overwhelming response of positives towards her… which I don't exactly think I will. xD So no worries there guys! :) **


	2. Go Figure

**Chapter 2: Go Figure**

Thor had been gone for three whole days. Three days of heroes waiting with baited breath to see if their friend and his brother would ever return. Tony had asked Jarvis to alert him of any peculiar signal in energy for the time being so they could all be aware if they were going to lose power again.

Of course Shield had been notified of Loki's absence, and they weren't exactly worried over it. Most of them were relieved when they heard the news three months ago that Loki was taken in to Asgard. It was a bit of a shock to them when they heard Thor was going there to bring him_ back. _

Natasha had given Fury a run down of the most recent events, and all the director could do was sigh and nod, hoping for the best and expecting the worst. He did his part, and as long as he was on good terms with Odin and Loki was away from him, he could care less.

Needless to say, everyone outside the Shield headquarters was anxious to know what was going to be coming back to Earth from Asgard, if anything, that was.

**xxx**

It was a late afternoon at Stark tower and the avengers hadn't been assigned any missions as of late, causing a few lazy days filled with mostly T.V and recovery sleep from New Years Eve. Tony may or may not have had a drinking contest with Steve, and may or may not have passed out after his fifth shot of tequila, hitting the floor and injuring his back even further. He spent the next two days in bed again, and decided he would keep his newest injuries a secret from Pepper.

Though, In this particular afternoon, Tony was not in his bed, he was lounging out on one of his couches with Bruce sitting at his feet and Steve in a chair beside them.

Bruce was busy reading a book, and Tony had fallen asleep playing on his phone. This left Steve flipping through the T.V guide, something he rarely got to do in Tony's presence.

He was enjoying getting to use the remote for once, and taking his time reading over the names of shows he hadn't already gotten a talking to about from Tony.

As he was reading, the show "Jersey Shore" caught his eye, one of the shows Tony had absolutely forbidden him to watch. He took a sneaky glance at the sleeping Iron Man and decided to take his chances. He was an adult, and Tony didn't own him. How bad could this show be for his 'virgin eyes', as Tony had so nicely labelled anyways?

Without thinking it over any further, Steve clicked OK and was ready to see what the big deal about this show was. Although, instead of being bombarded with tans, 'dancing', and alcohol he was left with a blue screen that seemed to surge once, the words "LOSS OF CONNECTION" flashing on the screen, and then nothing.

Steve furrowed his brows, curious as to what happened. Tony wouldn't of put some sort of lock on it, would he? He glanced over to Tony who was still oblivious to the world around him and hummed in thought. He decided not to confront him about it, and tried pressing in another channel, although that didn't seem to work either. Worried that he had some how broken it, he coughed once to get Bruce's attention hoping he could help him out.

Bruce looked up at the sound, and raised his eyebrows to Steve.

"The television's not working." Steve said, motioning to the screen ahead of them.

Bruce shrugged, "Pass me the remote?"

Steve complied, and was ready to get embarrassed over how he broke the T.V from trying to watch Jersey Shore, when suddenly Jarvis's crisp voice came in and cut off his thoughts.

"Sirs, the energy levels in the room are beginning to fluctuate, we may lose power again in-."

The room went dark.

"Oh." Steve uttered, feeling a brief sense of relief knowing he didn't break anything.

Bruce sat up quickly, and began shaking Tony to wake up. "Tony, Tony!"

"Mm.. what?" Tony asked, frowning from being woken up so abruptly.

"Jarvis's alert about the energy just went off, and we've lost power again." he explained, getting to his feet.

Something seemed to click in his brain, making Tony suddenly very alert, and quickly jumped off the couch. He felt dizzy from getting up so fast, but that didn't stop him from making his way over to the balcony.

"Guys! Get over here!" he called out, before sliding open the door and stepping out. He could feel the electricity in the air, it made him feel on edge.

Steve and Bruce made their way over to Tony, walking outside and standing beside him in the cold winter air.

"Where did Thor leave from last time?" Tony asked, feeling the bite of the wind through his thin t-shirt but determined to watch Thor return, hopefully with his little brother too.

"Just over there." Bruce said, pointing to their right at a good amount of free space.

Without any warning a loud crack of thunder rang out, making the three men flinch.

"...Do you think he has Loki?" Tony couldn't help but ask, his stomach clenching on him as what could only be classified as a portal began materializing in the exact spot Bruce referenced.

Steve shrugged, "I really don't know."

"I think he just might." Bruce said nodding.

Tony wasn't sure to be excited over that or scared. What would he look like? All mangled and broken? Like he himself had been when he was found after his capture? Loki had binds on his magic when they last saw him, he wouldn't be able to heal himself like he'd done after his beating from the Hulk. This would be real.

Tony rocked back on his heels in anticipation, shaking his head as images of Thor holding a blood covered Loki kept popping up in his mind.

And that only trigged a flashback of nothing but blood, pain, and stitches for him.

Stiches.

Oh no, his_ lips._ Tony had completely forgotten about the details of his punishment. What if he came back, with threads covering his mouth, unable to speak, without administering himself with a ridiculous amount of pain?

Tony suddenly felt sick to his stomach.

The portal nearly seemed complete, an angry looking amount of swirls, all crashing into one another looping into what suddenly became a circle.

A circle that was opening.

Tony bit his lip as he watched the opening slowly become larger, and larger, and finally _open_.

There was a pause, and finally a figure stepped out.

A figure that was quickly identifiable as Thor.

And to the side of that figure?

Loki.

**A/U: AHHH HELLO! Is this update quick enough? I've had this absolutely**_** horrible**_** cough the past few days, and decided that it was a good time to get some writing in! So, what do you think? Please don't kill me for the bit of a cliffhanger here, I promise it will be worth it in the end! :) **

**Now, I need to take some more medicine and try not to cough out my lung!**


	3. You're okay?

**Chapter 3: You're Okay?**

_There was a pause, and finally a figure stepped out._

_A figure that was quickly identifiable as Thor._

_And to the side of that figure?_

_Loki._

**xxx**

Tony couldn't believe his eyes.

Loki walked right out of that portal, and he looked fine.

Thor didn't have a rough grip on him like the last time he was escorted to Earth, no, he was walking perfectly_ fine_ beside him.

To say Tony was baffled was an understatement. All those images of blood and horror were dismissed in a second when Loki came to stand before the three of them; not a single scratch on his body. Not to mention his lips were together in their regular line, without the help of threads holding them there.

Tony raised his eyebrows in a questioning manner to the pair, and then back to his fellow teammates who were also quite surprised from the simple entrance.

Loki met his gaze lifting an eyebrow of his own, almost as if this was the most normal of greetings, and he hadn't been gone for more that a few hours. The two gods made their way over to the three heroes and stood there, neither of them uttering a word.

Tony rocked back on his heels, not being able to take it any longer. "So…." he began, slightly awkwardly breaking the silence. "This is a surprise."

Thor nodded, and Loki just continued to stare.

Tony squinted back at him. Something wasn't right. Loki looked completely normal. Too normal. And that silver tongue of his hadn't even spoken yet.

"Maybe you guys can give us a bit of an explanation inside?" Bruce said, gesturing back to the open door. "It's freezing out here."

Thor nodded, along with Steve and Tony who began making their way back.

"Really? I hadn't noticed." Loki mumbled, frowning, as if he were actually surprised.

"It speaks!" Tony grinned, breaking out into a huge smile and waited by the door for Loki to come in behind everyone.

Loki shot him a glare that wasn't too threatening, and Tony smiled, loving how easily he could get a rise out of him.

Bruce led Steve and Thor over to the couches inside as Loki made his way slowly behind, with Tony waiting by his side.

"Good to be back?" Tony asked quietly with a smirk, raising his hand to pat Loki on the back.

Although, Loki immediately turned and seized his wrist before he could make contact, gripping it at a dangerous strength.

Tony's eyes widened and made a bit of a strangled sound as Loki's fingers dug into his forearm.

The three on the couches looked over from the sound, and Loki quickly retracted from his arm in a panic. Tony was still half in shock from Loki's actions, but suddenly everything clicked. He brought his hand up to scratch at the back of his neck and gave a weak smile to Bruce.

"Everything alright over there…?" Bruce asked, with a raised eyebrow.

Tony nodded, "Yeah. We're good." he replied without missing a beat.

"Well then get over here, Loki and Thor have some explaining to do." Bruce urged, waving his hand over the back of the couch.

Loki glanced to Tony giving him a look that could only be seen as a silent thank you, and Tony tore his eyes away from him and made his way over to the rest of them.

Steve and Thor sat on one couch and Tony and bruce on another, Loki sat beside them on a chair.

"So…" Steve said, noticing Thor looking down. "What happened there?"

Thor dragged his gaze up from the floor. "A many of things." he replied.

Bruce squinted at him. "Good things? Bad things? Loki doesn't look injured, or sewn together?"

Thor nodded slowly. "A mixture of sorts."

Bruce cocked his head to the side. "That's all you're going to say?"

Thor nodded, "It is not much of a story to tell…"

Tony slapped his hands down onto the couch, startling them all, Loki nearly jumping out of his seat, the exact reaction he was looking for. He noticed this out of the corner of his eye, and decided he would definitely need to have a talk with him later. "Enough with these vague answers, Thor. We waited what, three months for Loki to get back, and three days for you to get him? So give us some details!"

Thor was frowning from Tony's outburst, and clasped his hands together. "Do not raise your voice at me, man of iron."

Tony rolled his eyes, "Are you serious?" he nearly laughed, "If you're going to play that card, well, I'm so _sorry_ for yelling." he said sarcastically. "Now cut the crap Thor, tell us what happened."

Thor took a few moments to compose himself, taking a few not unnoticed glances to Loki before continuing. "Loki was imprisoned."

Tony nodded, glad for getting some sort of information. "Okay…" he pressed, "No torture, or anything as promised?" he asked skeptically.

Thor nodded, although he was fidgeting slightly.

Tony shook his head. "Then why would Odin say all of that stuff, if he wasn't planning on doing any of it? Why did he want _you _there so bad?" he asked, directing his attention to Loki.

Loki was quick to reply. "He wanted me as a symbol to Asgard, and nothing more. To them I was a disgrace, and Odin keeping me under his own hand had given him the accolades for imprisoning a universally wanted war criminal."

Steve raised his eyebrows. "So your own dad wanted to keep you, for his own personal merits?"

Loki bit the inside of his lip. "Not my father, but correct."

Bruce sat forward in his seat, "Makes sense. I mean, why keep Loki here imprisoned if he can have him in Asgard and get credit for it? Makes him seem like a good guy, right?"

Thor nodded, almost a bit too quickly. "Those were exactly his intentions."

Tony crossed his arms over his chest, something about this all not sitting right with him. "So, how do you explain you going in there and saving him?"

Thor sighed, tapping his fingers against his leg. "When I reached my palace, without any form of attack on me I knew his threats were empty. Although since it had taken me three months to get a connection, I suppose-"

He was cut off by Loki, "By that time Odin had had his fun, being congratulated on containing me, and had no further use. He did not care where I went, as long as I was imprisoned. And Earth has the Avengers who had… defeated me earlier. So of course, it is only logical for him to send me back."

Bruce and Steve seemed pretty pleased with that answer, and Tony only continued to watch him with a careful eye.

"Well, I guess, welcome back?" Steve said, a bit unsure of himself.

Loki managed to give the soldier a small smile.

Tony could tell it was forced.

**xxx**

About five minutes later of awkward small talk, and really no further elaboration on what went down in Asgard, Tony stood up, not being able to take it any longer.

"Alright, if you'd all please excuse us, I need to show Loki something in my workshop."

Steve and Bruce both looked up at him quizzically, as did Loki, having a feeling that Tony didn't exactly want to show him anything.

"Well, okay?" Bruce said, staring between them.

Tony walked over to behind the chair Loki was sitting in and rested his hands on the back. "Yep, come on Loks. Important things to… show." he pressed.

Loki hesitated slightly, but soon enough he slowly got up.

Tony grinned brightly, and gave them all a short nod. "We shouldn't be too long." he said, beginning to walk out the room, and turning behind him to make sure Loki was following him.

Thor watched his brother and Tony carefully as they made their way down the hallway and out of sight. He relaxed into his chair a bit as Loki's presence was gone now, and hoped that the other two didn't notice.

**xxx**

Tony had just entered the passcode for his workshop door, and motioned for Loki to walk in before him. Loki slowly stepped in, admiring his workshop for what it was worth before he felt Tony step up beside him as the hydraulic door hissed shut behind them.

"So. What really happened in Asgard, Loki." Tony said, a bit quietly.

Loki furrowed his eyebrows. "Am I mistaken, or did Thor and I not just debrief you a matter of minutes ago?"

Tony frowned, "Loki, Bruce and Steve might have bought that story, but I'm sure as hell not going to." he said, turning to face him.

Loki shook his head. "I believe you are mistaken."

"Mistaken? Well, I might be. But how do you explain the whole attack, when I went to pat your back earlier? Hm?" Tony asked.

Loki took a moment. "I've told you on multiple accounts not to touch me, Stark."

Tony rolled his eyes, "Oh, now we're back to Stark? What happened to Tony?" he asked, coming off a bit more hostile than he expected.

"Well I am sorry you are so sensitive to which part of your name I call you by."

"Don't try and change the subject." Tony said, "Loki you're more jumpy that usual." he said. "Also, good try, but the no touching thing doesn't explain why you nearly jumped out of your skin when I slapped the couch up there." he pressed, not giving up at this point. "And, well, you know what? The only time I can think of whenever I was so jumpy around things like that was, after I was… taken. And tortured." he said quietly. "And well, Odin, promising to torture you like that…. It fits the pieces of the puzzle."

Loki shook his head, staying strong in his own argument. "I assure you Odin never laid a single hand on me- nor did one of his guards. I was in a cell, somewhat similar to what I was staying in here. And for myself being 'jumpy' as you put it, I was simply surprised from your childish outburst."

Tony shook his head, not letting that last jab at him deter him from his point. "You're positive this is the story you want to tell me?" he asked, leaning a bit closer to him, staring right into his eyes.

Loki nodded, never breaking eye contact. "I am positive. _Tony_." he added in the end, for even more effect.

Tony wanted to believe him, his tone was as reassuring as ever, and the story was plausible after all. Although, something in his stomach wasn't sitting right. He let his eyes search Loki's face, looking for some little twitch or indication that he was lying. As his eyes lowered from his eyes, he saw them.

And his heart sank down to his knees.

On the top left corner of his mouth there were two absolutely identical scars, with one just under his bottom lip to match. The marks being thin, hidden from a distance.

Some part inside Loki wanted Tony to find out, and another wanted to keep it a secret. He saw Tony's eyes land on his lips, and linger for far too long, knowing then that he had seen them. If he were allowed his magic, he would of made sure there were no scars, and intended to do so the moment he got it back. But for now, he would have to live with Tony knowing, and was strangely okay with it.

"Oh gosh Loki…" Tony said quietly, almost a whisper. He brought his eyes back up to him, who admitted defeat.

"They did not finish." Loki said evenly, trying to not let any emotion into his voice.

Tony shook his head. "Loki, I am so so sorry." he said, his eyes automatically dropped back from his gaze and down to the scars again. "Thor, didn't- did he?"

Loki shook his head. "No, it was a guard." he said, truthfully for once, not bothering to lie any longer. "A few guards. It happened the day after I was brought there, before Thor was allowed back."

Tony looked down to his feet, starting to feel sick to his stomach. "How come they didn't finish?" he asked, feeling horrible for asking, but honestly curious as to why they didn't get half way.

Loki paused, his own eyes catching the floor for a moment. "My, um. …Screams." he admitted. "My mother… well, Frigga, heard, and she could not bear to hear them, I suppose, and threatened my Father to do anything but sew my lips." he managed out.

Tony was just absolutely dumbstruck, "You're lucky."

Loki scoffed. "Might I remind you they still threaded through three times."

Tony's expression softened. "I know, I- I didn't mean it like that. I just mean, you're lucky, that someone was there, to stop them from finishing. There was no one to stop my captors."

"Yes. But were your captors sent by someone you assumed loved you your entire life?" Loki asked, with obvious bitterness in his tone.

Tony paused, "...Yes, actually." he admitted.

Loki frowned, that catching him completely off guard. "Really?"

Tony nodded. "Yeah, …you know, sometimes the emotional betrayal is a little more painful that the torture, hm?" he mused, although there was no humour to his tone.

Loki nodded slowly. "…That is exactly right."

Tony brought up his hand slow enough so that Loki could see it, before he gently brought it to rest on Loki's shoulder. "Well, you're safe now."

Loki gave him a bit of a smile.

"And I promise not to torture you, ever, if you do the same." Tony added with a bit of a teasing tone.

Loki's smile grew slightly. "No promises." he teased in return.

Tony gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze before withdrawing. "That's the Loki I know." he said with a small chuckle.

Loki let out a bit of a laugh himself, the first in nearly four months, thinking his new imprisonment on Midgard might just not be that bad.

**Hey! So late! I know, exams, sports, friends, all that jazz, you know how it goes! Anywhooo Loki's back! Let me know what you thought! Were you expecting what happened to happen? Anything you want to see happen in the next chapter? I'd say every reviewer on this chapter gets a hug from Tony, and maybe a cookie or something. And maybe if your review is super awesome, you'll get a hug from **_**Loki **_**as well. :) You guys still rock, and the amount of support I'm given is incredible! Stay awesome guys! :) **

_**Also, if there are any weird typos in this or something, I apologize it is very very late. **_


	4. Rosy Cheeks

**Chapter 4: Rosy Cheeks**

While Tony and Loki were busy having their heart-to-heart downstairs in his workshop, Thor was still struggling upstairs as he conversed with Bruce and Steve. It was starting to become harder and harder for Thor to keep his word to Loki about not letting them know the true details of his time in Asgard. Loki was the silver tongue after all. Thor had the true tongue of lead.

"So, you're saying you went to Asgard… Spoke with Odin… And then he let you have Loki?" Bruce asked, somewhat skeptically.

Thor was nodding his head like a lost puppy throughout, "I… Yes." he agreed weakly, not even sure of his own story anymore.

Bruce sighed and sat back in his seat, bored with the lack of information he was getting. "Alright." he droned tiredly.

Steve had his face mushed against his hand, propped up on the arm of the couch. As much as he wanted to seem interested, all this space talk made his head hurt. He had been guiltily zoning in and out of the conversation once he got the main idea. Loki was taken, Thor got him back.

Just as Thor was able to relax, the elevator doors opened on them and in stepped Clint and Natasha. He managed to give them a small smile.

Clint raised his eyebrows. "Thor's back? Well, thanks for update. You know, we're apart of the team too."

"He's been here for not even half an hour, give us a break." Bruce defended, giving him a tired look.

Natasha crossed her arms and made her way over to the group. "Does that mean Loki's back too?" she asked, not bothering to take a seat.

"Yes." Thor said, giving them both a bit of a nod.

Clint almost sneered. "Where is the punk?"

Bruce gave a bit of a light chuckle. "Down with Tony in his workshop."

"You let those two be alone with each other?!" Clint said with a scandalized gasp.

Natasha rolled her eyes, knowing Clint was being childish and Steve shot him a glare. Thor on the other hand stared at him in confusion.

"What?" Clint said, "What are they doing down there anyways?" he asked, perching himself on one of the arm rests of the couches.

"Tony just said he needed to show him something." Steve shrugged.

"Yeah, show him something alright." Clint mumbled, although Natasha heard and gave him an elbow to the arm.

"Ow!"

"That's a warning."

**xxx**

Downstairs, Tony had plopped himself down on one of his rolley office chairs and Loki had made his way over to the couch.

"So, can you tell me what really happened when Thor finally was allowed back?"

Loki nodded, deciding that Tony deserved the truth after all. "I don't know too much about his entrance as I was still in captivity, but I do know my father had his words with him. He didn't need me any longer for his credit in Asgard, and knew that you Avengers had kept me under watch during your break; even though I wasn't in my cell."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "He knew we took you our vacationing?"

Loki nodded again. "Odin can see all. He keeps quite the close watch on Thor and I when he wants to."

Tony hummed in thought. "Well I guess he didn't have a problem with you getting a bit of a break yourself, before he took you into his own hands."

"Or perhaps he did, and it was to give me hope that my actual punishment wouldn't be as severe. Which we both know… it was." he said, lightly tracing his finger over his upper lip.

Tony gave him a bit of a sad smile. "They aren't very noticeable." he said, referencing to his scars.

"It's still a mark that I don't wish to have. Not having access to my magic is torturous enough, and now it is a reminder that I cannot remove."

Tony swivelled back and forth on his chair a bit. "Well, there's only one way you can hide them for now."

Loki raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "How?"

"Grow a badass stache like mine." he grinned proudly, smoothing over his goatee.

Loki gave him a smile in return, "… As appealing as that sounds." he started sarcastically. "I''d rather not."

Tony scoffed, "Why?"

"Nearly all the men of Asgard have their beards. I like to exclude myself from their animalistic ways." Loki explained, crossing his legs on the couch.

Tony inclined his head, "You know, a wise man once told me, 'Look like an animal, and soon you'll start behaving like one.'"

Loki gave a bit of a smirk. "Certainly true in Thor's case."

Tony laughed at that. "Exactly."

Loki chuckled to himself slightly for a moment until it died down a bit. "Tony, can I expect you to keep this a secret from the others?"

Tony took a moment to think it over. "Weeelll…. I guess so. Only because you called me Tony, though." he teased with a small smile.

Loki rolled his eyes at him but still gave a sincere. "Thank you."

Tony waved it off. "I wont tell, and I'm sure Bruce and Steve are just going to roll with Thor's story regardless. Clint only likes looking at you from a distance, and unless we play another round of truth or dare, I'm pretty sure Natasha's going to keep her eyes off your lips." he grinned.

Loki blushed slightly, and bit the inside of his lip trying to force it back. "We're covered then."

Tony laughed, "Loki are you blushing?"

Loki shot him a glare, "What? Of course not. Why would I be?" he defended.

Tony rolled back in his chair. "I don't know, you tell me, I mention you kissing Nat and you go all red."

Loki shook his head. "I did not kiss her, she kissed me. _Against my will, _I may add." he sneered. "The only reason my cheeks would betray me would be from sheer _embarrassment _from the fact that that woman kissed me."

Tony just laughed, "Your first kiss."

Loki crossed his arms. "I'm not going to continue conversing with you if you are going to be like this."

Tony span around in his chair once. "Oh come on." he droned, spinning back slowly to face him. "It was just a kiss."

Loki had his lips sealed and was shaking his head, eyebrows raised.

It was now Tony's turn to roll his eyes. "Fine, let's not talk about kissing."

Loki raised only one of his eyebrows now, still not giving him the privilege of his voice.

"Why don't we talk about your new getup." he said, tapping Loki's foot with his own.

Loki frowned, looking down at his clothes instinctively and back to him. "And what about it?"

"Well, you're not decked out in your armour, like you were last time you came from Asgard. You're looking pretty… casual."

Loki felt like smacking him. "Surprise, an Asgardian prisonercame back from Asgard not wearing his robes of royalty. Now, Tony I thought you were much more observant than that."

Tony nodded, ignoring his insults. "Well, I did _observe _that you aren't wearing your beloved horny helmet."

Loki gave him a blank stare. "Are you being serious right now Stark? You were with me when I lost it." he said, slightly hurt.

Tony just continued to smile. "Yes, and I know how fond you were of that damn thing. I'd suppose you were pretty upset, not having it."

Loki's eyes widened, wondering how Tony could be so daft. "I suppose. Yes?"

"And no one in Asgard would ever make another for you, correct?"

"Obviously."

Tony grinned. "Good. Wait here."

Loki was frowning now. He watched Tony get out of his chair with that annoying smirk on his face and disappear behind a corner. He came back carrying a rather large box with a green bow on the top. Tony was wearing that same smirk as he returned to Loki, although this time taking a seat beside him on the couch.

"Merry Christmas." he grinned, giving the box to Loki.

Loki tentatively took the box, staring at it for a moment before bringing his gaze back to Tony. "...What?"

"Christmas, it's a celebration on Earth that was a few weeks ago. We give out presents. I thought maybe you'd be back in time for it so I got you one." he said. "Better late than never?"

Loki was still rather confused. "Oh." he said quietly, somewhere inside of him thinking that was rather kind of him to do so.

"Well, open it." Tony pressed, "Come on."

Loki looked back down to the box. He pulled on one of the green ribbons and watched it unravel in his lap. He put it beside him and slowly brought his hands to the lid, taking another glance at Tony first.

"_Oh my goodness_, would you please just open it?" Tony said impatiently.

Loki did as he was told and removed the lid, placing that beside him as well. When he saw what was inside he nearly gasped.

"Where did you get this?" he asked immediately, his eyes wide with surprise.

"I made it." Tony smiled proudly, so far very please with Loki's reaction.

Loki stared at the inside of the box for a few more seconds before he reached in and gently removed a near perfect replica... of his horned helmet.

Tony took the box off his lap and placed it on the ground for him, watching his face as it changed from wonder to just pure excitement.

"Tony, I…." he started, "This is unbelievable." he said, his fingers sliding over the smooth surface of the shining gold.

He smirked, "Pretty amazing right?"

Loki was busy inspecting the inside of his new helmet, and then went to the horns, noticing each perfect weld of the metal. "It's nearly identical." he said quietly.

"That's what I was going for." Tony smiled.

"This must have taken quite the amount of time to recreate." he said, still inspecting it with wonder.

"Meh, a few weeks. I needed something to busy me with, since my new favourite friend to tease got taken away."

Loki's smile only brightened. Tony had never called him a friend before, and if he had it was in a teasing manner. He supposed they had become friends over the summer, and it felt nice to be trusted with that title. "Tony, I can't express my… gratitude enough for this."

Tony shook his head, he hated being thanked for things, it always got too sentimental. He didn't like talking about his feelings. "You're welcome." he said with a bit a shrug. "Now, put it on. It better fit."

Loki gave him a bit of a smile before doing what he was told. He brought his present up above his head and carefully slid it on, it fitting absolutely perfect.

Tony let out a low whistle. "Damn, I'm good."

Loki didn't even roll his eyes at him this time, he was still too in awe of his gift. "You are."

Tony raised his eyebrows, "Woah, was that a compliment from Loki?"

Loki smiled, "You deserve it, only this once. …Although any compliment right now still could not come near to how kind this is. Tony, really, thank you." he said sincerely, meeting his eyes.

Tony caught his eyes, "Again, no problem."

Loki smiled softly in return. He was about to say something, when suddenly the door behind the corner to them opened, and Loki nearly jumped out of his skin from the indicating beep. In doing so he had also successfully whacked Tony in the face with one of the horns on his new helmet when he turned his head.

Tony yelped in pain, and fell backward on the couch, his back hitting the cushions. Loki, in shock was quick to lean over to him to see if he was alright.

"Are you okay? I'm so sorry!" he apologized, silently cursing himself for being so jumpy. Once again Tony was being nothing but kind to him and he had hurt him, just like the skipping stones.

Tony looked up to him, slightly surprised to see Loki's face full of concern. "Mm yeah… fine." he mumbled.

Footsteps soon came to their location, and Clint was the first to round the corner to the couch, his eyes going wide at the scene. "What the HELL is going on down here!"

Tony stared over to Clint from under Loki, rather defenceless to any comments in this position. Loki turned his head to look at Clint, careful not to hit Tony this time and leaned back.

"I told you something was going on down here!" Clint said, pointing to Natasha.

Natasha looked from Tony and Loki then back to Clint. "I'm sure there's an explanation…?" she tried.

"There certainly is." Tony said, "Loki was just getting used to his new horns and well, whacked me in the face when he heard the door."

Loki nodded, "I was just looking to see if he was alright."

Clint raised an eyebrow. "But… I thought he lost his helmet."

"I made him a new one." Tony said, as if it were obvious.

Clint's eyebrows nearly hit the roof. "You what?!_" _he exclaimed. "You _made_ him a helmet? Well isn't that just romantic."

It finally seemed to click in Loki's mind about all of Clint's accusations and he blushed, out of embarrassment. He raised his finger as to correct him_, _but Clint shook his head, cutting him off.

"Nope, I'm out, I'll be upstairs. You guys can debrief them yourselves." he said, briskly turning and making his way out of the room.

Natasha watched Clint walk back to the door, and turned back to Tony and Loki, feeling like she should apologize.

Tony rubbed his sore cheek and stared up at her. "What's up with him?"

Natasha shook her head. "He's always been quick to jump to conclusions."

Tony nodded, glancing over to Loki and noticing his red cheeks. He felt bad for him. Wanting to change the subject, Tony shrugged. "Um, so what's this debriefing Clint was talking about?"

Natasha nodded, a small smile breaking out on her face. "Fury said we deserve another vacation."

**HELLO MY LOVELY READERS. I'VE JUST RECOVERED FROM THE NEW IRON MAN 3 "EXTENDED LOOK" TRAILER. Marvel got us good, with RDJ's literal 'look' although, I can't say I could complain. I'm really liking the chinstrap on him. Anyone else? Yes?**

**Well, I hope you guys like the chapter! and please review! Reviewers will get a whack to the head from Loki! Well, probably not. You'll probably just get a nice reply from me, to express my thanks. But that's just as good, right? Alright thanks guys, I hope you all have a wonderful day! :) **


	5. Ski Trip!

**Chapter 5: Ski trip! **

"You've got to be kidding me," Tony chuckled, slightly relaxing back more on the couch.

Natasha shook her head, "Words straight from the director himself. We're getting another vacation."

Loki couldn't help but have a bit of an amused smile grace his lips. As much as he hated ( at first ) their first trip away, he had to admit it would be better than staying almost captive at Stark Tower again.

"Why? Ol' Patchy feel bad for ruining our Christmas?" Tony asked with a grin.

"Well, not exactly. He was planning on giving us some sort of reward, or break after our efforts with the 'Godzilla' incident. The fatality rate was in the lowest ever seen from an extreme disaster like that, and we handled ourselves well. ….Apparently less casualties equals vacation for us." Natasha explained as she shrugged to Tony and then even took a glance to Loki.

Tony brought his hand up to his beard, scratching lightly in thought. "We've gone on other missions with no casualties…" he said skeptically. "We didn't get any sort of reward for that, other than a pat on the back."

"Well the scale on which Godzilla was on…"

Tony began to smirk. "It's cause this guy's back isn't it." he grinned, pointing to the God beside him.

Natasha looked between the two men and sighed. "…Once I heard he was back I texted Fury." she admitted, "He replied with a …not so subtle message of wanting him away from Stark Tower. Saying we deserved a vacation and this would be a perfect time to take advantage of it."

Loki wasn't sure to be offended by that or amused. He decided on the latter and managed a small smirk. "Well, you're very welcome then."

Tony gave him a grin. "Hey well, vacations a vacation right?" he continued to smile. "I'm thinking Bahamas. You good with Bahamas? I've got this great beach house with a ho-"

"Tony…" Natasha had to cut him off. "...We can't go to the Bahamas."

The man frowned. "What? Of course we can. I'll can literally have my private jet ready in under three hours."

Natasha shook her head. "Fury was pretty lenient on rules but he did give me two major instructions."

Tony raised his eyebrows, his mood drooping already.

"They were to not let Loki out of our site ….and it had to be at your cabin."

Tony didn't think that sounded too bad after all. "Well, which cabin?"

Natasha sighed, of course the man would have more than one cabin. "Up north. He said there's a Shield base located there that's not too far away. We could contact them if we needed any extra help."

Tony's mood suddenly elevated, ignoring the last bit she'd explained. "Ski trip!" he shouted, getting off of his seat on the couch.

Loki still sat puzzled there, watching Tony excitedly grab out his phone and begin making what seemed to be text messages.

"I guess that's okay then?" Natasha smiled, looking over to Loki and sharing the same puzzled face with him.

"Yeah! I haven't been there in a while. Just gotta make sure it's all set for us. You know, heating and stuff. I'm just seeing if I've got Jarvis installed too…" he hummed the last bit to himself slightly.

Natasha got up off her chair, deciding this went over rather well. "Alright, would it be ready for say… tomorrow night?"

Tony jerked his head up from his phone. "That soon? Well ah yeah, he'll have his newest updates in an hour or so." he said chuckling slightly. "Man, Fury really doesn't want to see Loki around does he." he asked as he quickly got back to his screen.

Natasha met Loki's unchanging eyes and shrugged her shoulders. "Can you blame him?" she teased, giving the God a wink before making her way back up the stairs. "I'll tell the rest to get ready." she called out behind her.

Loki rolled his eyes at the woman and got up to join Tony, peering over at his phone once she was gone. "Ski trip?" he asked him, being confused with Tony's original outburst after hearing it was 'up north'.

Tony finished sending out the updates and pocketed his phone. "Yeah, we're going on a _trip _and we're going to _ski_?"

Loki furrowed his eyebrows, he had to think of where he heard the term ski before. "…Does this have to do with the jet ski you originally took me on?"

Tony gave him a strange look before he started laughing. "No, no no no." he snickered, "This is skiing, or well snowboarding in my case, down a mountain. A mountain with snow, and you go down on a board."

Loki had on a blank expression, not following.

Tony shook his head, "It's fun, just trust me."

"I believe that is what you said about the jet ski…" Loki hummed skeptically.

"Oh, come on you had_ fun_." Tony chuckled, beginning to walk away from him.

Loki was quick to follow after him. "Not exactly." he said, although Tony blew it off with a wave of his hand.

"Well this type of ski trip doesn't involve water. Frozen water, to be exact. Snow, you know that white stuff that falls from the sky?" he smirked, bounding up the stairs.

Loki frowned… yes, he knew about snow. He knew about snow very _very _well. He slumped his shoulders and continued to follow him up the stairs.

**xxx**

Upstairs Bruce, Clint, Steve, and Natasha were all conversing around in the TV room still.

"Yeah, I don't know. Why don't you ask Tony?" Clint asked, looking over to the two now joining in on them.

Tony cocked his head to the side as he came up to join them. "Ask me what?"

Bruce sheepishly took a step toward them. "We were just wondering about skiing, and stuff." he said, his hand fiddling with his cuffs. "All of us ski or snowboard, except Thor and we were wondering what to do with boards and stuff?"

"Because it's a private spot, correct?" Natasha clarified.

Tony nodded, "Yeah, don't worry about it." he smiled with a wave of his hand, "I've got a huge garage there. It's like snow sport heaven. One could say it rivals a rental shop."

They all smiled, glad they wouldn't have to make any awkward appearances on their way up trying to rent boards.

"What's the point of having all of that gear?" Steve asked, clearly curious over who would need that much.

Tony shrugged, "Let's just say I throw some awesome parties." he grinned, that little glimmer in his eye. "And I like everyone to have a good time. "

The Avengers were sure cool with that, and even Thor continued to smile along with the group. Meanwhile Loki was standing beside Tony, pretending to know _exactly _what they were all chatting about.

"So now what? We leave tomorrow?" Clint asked.

"Yeah," Tony said, "Are you flying us, or what?"

Clint shrugged, "Guess so, it's the fastest way."

Tony nodded, "Alright then, guys pack warm. We're going to experience winter the right way."

"Yeah, so do your packing now. I want to leave early tomorrow morning so we'll get there while it's still visible." Clint said.

The avengers all took their cue to leave, and began heading off to each of their rooms. Except for Thor, who stayed back with Tony and Loki.

The Thunder God was looking at his brother with concern, and Loki was staring back. Tony noticed the exchange between the two and was quick to pull out his phone and take a few steps in the other direction, busying himself with the device, although he stayed to wait for Loki.

Thor gave the younger God a bit of a sad smile, and Loki just nodded.

"You have your helmet back?" Thor questioned quietly after a moment.

Loki nodded once again, "Tony crafted it for me."

"It is identical." he complimented. "Perhaps even better than what the royal blacksmith would have done." he said with a bit of a smile.

Loki managed a smile in return. After what Thor had done, lying for him and all he supposed the least he could do was humour him with a friendly conversation for once. "It is rather impressive."

It was now Thor's turn to nod, taking a glance to Tony who appeared to be very engrossed with his phone. "Truly."

Thor seemed like he was about to say something more, but Loki's judging eye upon him made him hold his wasn't sure if it was because Tony was in the room, or just because of the way he was feeling, but Loki definitely didn't want Thor to start some sympathy party. Or talk about sentiment. Feelings._ Ugh._

A few moments of silence later, Thor took a hint and decided to get on his way. It was rare when Loki talked to him. The last time they had really conversed in a good few months was when Loki was hurt back on Asgard, and explained to him in little detail what the All Father had done to him. He decided he should have been lucky of the few kind words he had gotten already, and decided to end on a good note. "Well, I suppose I shall be off to pack now…" Thor said, giving his brother one last reassuring nod before making his way to his room.

As Thor disappeared down the hallway, Tony smirked to himself and pocketed his phone. "Well. That was awkward."

Loki sighed, "I'm aware." he said, following Tony as he led them to the elevator.

Tony chuckled slightly, brushing off the two brothers differences as he pressed the button for their floor, and stepped in once the doors opened for them. ". . .So, I'm royal blacksmithing material?"

Loki smirked, "Thor's words, not mine." he added, not wanting to inflate the mans ego even more so than it was.

"Yeah, but you agreed." Tony teased, glancing over the helmet. "Tell you what. I'll do your blacksmithing for you, if you promise not to hit me with whatever I make." he said, pointing to his cheek that was still slightly red from earlier with a grin.

Loki let out another soft chuckle. "I'm not so sure if I can oblige."

"Then no new helmets." Tony shrugged, raising his eyebrows to him teasingly.

"I only need one." he replied easily.

"Oh?" Tony smirked, "And what if your helmet suddenly disappears, or you lose it, or goes missing one night while you're asleep? I've seen a few of the guys eyeing it around here."

"No one would dare take it from me."

Tony shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, I've read that _hawks_ are attracted to shiny objects."

Loki smiled slightly. "Barton should know better than to mess with me."

Tony shrugged again. "I don't know about that, these are instincts we're talking here."

The God managed a bit of a laugh. He'd always thought Barton's nickname with the bird was slightly humiliating. "Well, I'll have to be sure to hide it then."

"Or you could just be nice to the person who could make you another."

The elevator doors opened at Tony's floor and Loki turned to him with a grin. "Mm, I think I'll just cherish this one."

Tony recognized his teasing tone and nudged him slightly as they walked out and into the hallway. "We'll see about that."

Loki just shook his head and followed him in the hallway up to Tony's room. He glanced down the hallway to the door across, the one that Tony allowed him to sleep in. The one he was taken in.

Tony had gone in his own room, taking out his phone quickly to check how the update on Jarvis had been. He only looked up when he didn't feel the God's presence beside him any longer. He frowned for a moment, before realizing Loki was probably going into the spare room. Uh oh, that would just be a memoir of bad unneeded memories right about now. And they were doing _so_ well, he'd even gotten Loki to laugh. The room would ruin everything. No one had even gone in there since Loki had been taken except for Thor, and he was pretty sure it was still in it's disarrayed shape. Blankets strewn across the room. Definitely a good source for bad memories . . .He needed to stop Loki.

Throwing his phone on the bed, he made his way quickly back to his door to tell him to stop.

Loki had in fact made his way over to the door. He did hesitated slightly before he slowly reached for the handle, stopping once he heard Tony pop his head out from his own door. "…Hey! You ah, don't need to go in there. I've got a suitcase for you in here."

Loki was beyond thankful for that. To be honest, he didn't exactly feel like going into that room just yet, and was glad Tony had stopped him. He took a bit of a reassuring breath, not wanting Tony to see the relief on his features.

"You have a suitcase for me?" he asked, walking over to Tony and entering his room with him.

"Well it's not for you. It's one of mine, and I'm letting you use it." he corrected, walking into his closet and looking for the bags, slightly relived himself. _Crisis averted. _

Loki nodded slowly, "I have no clothes, though."

"Really? I hadn't noticed." he called out sarcastically, dragging the two bags out of the closet and dropping one at Loki's feet.

"I'll let you wear some of my t-shirts." he said, "Pants are gonna be an issue. Sorry, I'm not as lanky as you." he said, placing his own suitcase on the bed.

Loki raised an eyebrow. "It's a shame I'm not as short and stout as you."

Tony turned back to glare at him, although he saw the teasing grin on his face and had to laugh it off. "Ha ha, very funny." he chimed, going back into his closet to grab some clothes.

Loki chuckled slightly to himself and placed his suitcase up on the bed as Tony's was, finding a zipper on the side and unzipping it so.

He allowed his mind a second of rest as he waited for Tony to return with the shirts. It had been a long day for him, and finally being able to relax felt good. Although, he wasn't able to relax long as a sound began erupting from Tony's phone.

Loki jumped from the sound, squeezing his eyes shut; angry with himself for being startled so easily.

"Hey, wanna check who that is?" Tony called from the closet.

Loki frowned. "Who what is?"

Tony felt like slapping his forehead. "My phone. On the bed. The source of that noise. Look on the screen, what does it say?" he asked.

Loki felt slightly embarrassed from not knowing at first what he meant, but complied nonetheless and glanced over to the screen that was thrown upon the bed earlier.

There was a picture of a red haired woman, the name "Pepper Potts" flashing below it as the tune continued to blare.

"Pepper Potts?" Loki tried, wondering what that meant. Was it a code name for something? He'd never seen that woman before. Now that he thought about it, he did think he'd heard Tony mention a pepper out of the usual context a while ago.

"Oh, one sec." Tony said, taking a moment before coming out of the closet with a bundle of shirts in his hand. He placed the shirts down on the bed before he picked up the phone.

Loki couldn't help but ask, the curiosity getting the better of him. "Who's this Pepper?"

Tony raised an eyebrow to him before sliding his finger across the bottom of his phone finally seizing the noise. ". . .My girlfriend?" he said, bringing the phone up to his ear.

Loki was shocked, to say the least.

Who would name somebody Pepper?

**HEY. spelling errors. I am sorry, I need to sleep now and really wanted this up for you guys.**

**I know I know. UPDATE, JEEZ. No worries guys, sports are coming to and end. I should have more time to write very very soon. :) Also, I would just like to know, do I have any Pepperony shippers out there? This isn't regarding this story, Pepper won't be in it much besides the talk Tony is going to have to have explaining to Loki that he **_**does**_** have a girlfriend and some random phone calls. I personally do ship it, and was wondering if anyone would be interested in a Pepperony little fic thing. nothing like this, probably just a little one shot thing. BUT NO WORRIES IF YOU'RE NOT! I probably wont ever upload one, but if anyone is a shipper and would like to let me know that wold be awesome! If not, carry on reading this story guys! I've got lot's of fun stuff planned! Alright, bed now. Night! **


	6. Gotta Go!

**Chapter 6: Gotta Go**

"Hey Pep, how's it going?" Tony asked into his phone, holding his finger up politely to Loki as he walked about the room.

Pepper answered him on the other line, the sounds coming from the bustling airport muffling her voice. "Um, pretty frantic at the moment." she replied honestly as she briskly walked through the busy terminal. "Are you outside?"

Tony frowned, thinking that was rather odd of her to ask. "Um, no. Inside, why?"

Pepper was surprised at that. "…Oh, where are you then?" she asked, standing a bit higher on her heels to see if she could spot Tony, or at least some paparazzi giving him away.

Tony was still confused as to why she would be asking. "In our room?"

Loki's ears perked up at that, from his quiet position sitting on the bed. _Their room? _he supposed their relationship was a bit more serious than he first assumed. He didn't think she had lived with him...

Pepper brought her hand up to squeeze the bridge of her nose as the realization hit her. He was still at the _tower_, and not here to pick her up. ". . .Tony! I'm at the _airport!_" she shouted at him in aggravation, catching a few strangers attention from her outburst.

Tony went completely stiff. With all the excitement from hearing about their new trip he had completely forgotten about Pepper returning. He really was horrible at remembering dates. ". . . I'll be there in 20 minutes." he quickly replied, wincing already from the tongue lashing he was about to be receiving. _And not the fun kind either. _he thought to himself with a smirk.

"Seriously Tony! I… I knew I should have just called Happy." she sighed, her hand pushing her bangs back in frustration. "Forget it. I'll just get him to come pick me up."

Tony shook his head. "No-no no. Hey, I want to see you. I'm coming." he said quickly, "Be there soon. ...Grab yourself a coffee or something."

Pepper sighed, "Tony I'm so jet lagged right now a coffee is the last thing I want."

Tony just bit his bottom lip. "Alright just sit tight then?… I'll be there quickly don't worry."

"Tony.. I-"

"See you bye!" he chimed hanging up the phone, knowing he probably shouldn't of cut her off like that.

Loki was staring at Tony, completely at loss with the situation. "Er… Is everything alright?"

Tony was running his hands through his hair. "Huh? Oh yeah. I need to go pick up Pepper at the airport." he explained, "I sort of ...ah forgot."

Loki nodded slowly. "I see." he said, watching Tony quickly pocket his phone.

Tony nodded and pointed to Loki, as he began walking to the door. "Yep, and you're coming with."

Loki frowned, that taking him completely off guard. "What? Why?"

"Come on, we'll go for a quick cruise in my car and you'll get to meet Pepper." he said, motioning for him to follow. "Come on!"

Loki reluctantly got off the bed and began following Tony out the door, only because of his rushed tone. "I don't understand why I'm coming."

"Because I want some company on the way there, and I'm sure it will be more fun that sitting here alone and risk having more awkward conversations with Thor. " the man smirked, as he waited for the elevator.

Loki had to sigh at that, and supposed he was right. "Will she not be alarmed knowing I'll be there?"

Tony hummed, scratching his beard. "I hadn't thought about that. Hm, probably." he shrugged. "I'm sure she'll get over it."

Loki raised an eyebrow to him, surprised at how much he seemed to want him to come. "If you say so, then."

Tony just nodded, hoping into the elevator once it opened and nearly dragging Loki in, mashing the close door button once they were both in there.

Loki watched him with amusement. "You're acting strange."

Tony removed his hand from the button and pressed the one for the parking garage now instead. "What? No I'm not." he defended, pausing a second to ruffle his hand through his hair. ". . .How's my hair look?"

Loki resisted the urge to laugh. "See, you are acting different."

Tony looked to him completely seriously. "Loki, how does my hair look." he said again, demanding an answer.

Loki frowned from Tony's tone. "…It looks the same."

Tony squinted at him. "Good? bad?"

Loki crossed his arms. "Does it honestly matter?"

"Yes. I haven't seen her in a month and would at least like to look nice."

Loki rolled his eyes, that only proving his earlier statement. "You look fine."

"And my hair?" he continued to prod. "Good bad?"

Loki shook his head, not blessing him with an answer.

"…Bad?" Tony asked, his eyebrows hitting the roof.

Loki rolled his eyes, just wanting him to drop the subject of his appearance already. "It looks good, Tony. You have nothing to worry about." he answered with a sigh.

Tony smirked instantly from that, his earlier almost worrisome attitude being replaced with his annoying ( in Loki's opinion ) Stark charm. "_Oh,_ thanks Lok's." he grinned, giving him a wink.

Loki rolled his eyes and sighed exasperated. He supposed he just couldn't win sometimes when it came to Tony Stark._ Sometimes, that is._

Tony had that same self satisfied grin as they made their way all the way down to the parking level of the tower.

Loki looked around as he stepped out, not familiar with this area of the building. He supposed it was underground from their being no windows and the dark coldness that they were now surrounded with. Vehicles were scattered about, except for the closest line of shiny cars that all happened to have STARK and a number beside them on the license plate. Loki closed his eyes and held in a laugh. Tony was more eccentric than he thought.

That one eccentric man's steps were quick as he made his way over to one of his cars, choosing one with a backseat and tinted windows for once, thanks to his special guest.

"You're gonna have to get in the backseat, sorry." Tony said. "Don't want you being… exposed in the public." he gave him a bit of a sad smile. "Just yet."

Loki nodded in understanding, watching him open the door for the drivers seat and he took the one opposite him to the back. The car was roomy inside and the seats were comfortable. He recognized the dash to be slightly similar to the other cars he'd been transported in since his arrival on Midgard and figured he had nothing to worry about.

That was until Tony decided to obnoxiously rev the engine.

Loki gripped the seat he was in, yelling out a "Stark!" in distress.

Tony chuckled, looking at Loki in the rearview mirror. "Seat belt, hon." he teased.

Loki mumbled something under his breath but did as he was told, placing the strap across his body and clicking it into place.

Soon enough, Tony steered them out of the lot and out into the cold streets of Manhattan.

**xxx**

It had now been 30 minutes since Pepper had called Tony and she was beginning to become impatient. More impatient than she already was. She was sitting by the front, watching the groups of people pile into taxi's, get into limo's or be picked up by loved ones.

The woman glanced to the clock on her phone for the umpteenth time since her plane landed and was seriously debating over just taking a taxi home. Her eyes were tired and she was beginning to feel the start of a headache coming on. She wanted nothing more than to get into a bed and pass out right now.

The sharp note of her phone beeping brought her out of her thoughts, and made that pain in her temple begin to pulse. Now alert, she glanced to her device and let out a sigh of relief as she saw Tony's name flashing and the word "Here :) " on the front of her screen. Gathering up her luggage, she briskly made her way out the doors and over to Tony's car.

**xxx**

Once Tony saw Pepper coming out the doors and over to the car he was quick to jump out and help her with her bags.

Loki sat inside, peering out the tinted windows and being completely hidden to the world. He watched as Tony made his way over to the red head, smiling to her as they said their hellos. She looked tired and unimpressed and Tony brought his hand up to awkwardly scratch at the back of his neck, giving her a shrug. Even though Loki couldn't hear their conversation going on, he could pretty much guess what they were saying.

The woman had rolled her eyes at Tony after what seemed to be some attempt at an apology and made her way closer over to the car; making Loki tense slightly. He knew he should be able to trust Pepper, since Tony seemed to think it was fine if she saw him. But she still made him… antsy. He didn't want her to make a scene.

Before Pepper could get to the door handle, Tony reached and took her hand, stopping her and spinning her back to him. They were closer now and it seemed as though he was giving her another more sincere apology. She had rolled her eyes yet again to him, although despite how unnerved the woman had looked, her expression softened once Tony gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Loki looked down then, feeling it was wrong to be spying on a couple like he was. He looked to his hands in his lap, picking at his nail for a moment as a strange feeling came to his chest. It wasn't a good feeling… but not necessarily bad either. At the moment, and state of mind he was in, he couldn't explain it. Or perhaps he just didn't want to. It felt familiar, none the less. He felt awkward being here, but was still glad that Tony didn't abandon him at the word of his girlfriend. He supposed the feeling was a mix of anxiety and he dismissed it as nothing, taking a quick peek back out the window to see if they were… done.

They _were_ seeing as he couldn't see Tony anymore, and a click behind him followed by the sound of hydraulics snapped him out of his thoughts. He supposed Tony was putting her bags in the back compartment behind him, and managed to calm down his breathing.

The trunk shut with a loud click, making Loki tense in his seat once again and the passenger door had opened.

Pepper slid into her seat, sighing with relief and bringing her attention back down to her phone.

Loki held his breath, wondering if he should make his presence known.

The woman placed her phone into her handbag that she carried with her and turned to see Tony enter the car. She didn't hesitate to let out a heavy sigh and rub her temples once Tony turned the key. Clearly the engine was not helping her headache.

"Oh at least pretend to be happy to see me." Tony smirked, looking over to her.

She managed to give him a bit of a smile. "Pretending takes too much effort." she said, placing her bag on the ground between her legs. "I'm too tired."

Tony sighed, "Come on, I haven't seen you in a month. I missed you."

"You've seen me on Skype." she countered, "That wasn't too long ago."

Tony rolled his eyes, "Fine, I haven't seen you in _person _in a month, ...I haven't kissed you in a month."

Pepper couldn't help but chuckle slightly. As tired as she was, she had to admit he was being cute. "...Well, I'm right here."

"You are." Tony hummed, quickly taking his eyes off her to glance in the rearview mirror, seeing Loki... whose gaze was fixed upon his girlfriend.

"You can kiss me now."

That brought his attention back to her. "I can?" he smirked.

Loki felt like he was going to be sick.

Pepper leaned over in her seat more. "Yes." she said a bit softer.

Tony looked back at her biting his bottom lip. He supposed Loki would forgive him, right?

He turned and smiled to her, slowly leaning in.

Loki felt himself go red. They weren't going to kiss in front of him. Were they? Not with Tony knowing he was right there…

Despite Loki's silent objection, Tony had gently met Pepper's lips with his.

Loki tensed. Had Tony forgotten about his presence? It had certainly felt that way.

Loki watched in awkward silence, feeling the blood rush to his cheeks. Just as he was about to bring his eyes to the floor, Tony's hand came up pointing in his direction while he was still kissing Pepper. Loki watched him raise a finger, as if telling him to wait a minute, before he brought his hand back to Pepper.

The God raised an eyebrow to the expression even though he knew Tony couldn't see him since he had his eyes closed. He thought that was rather… rude of him. Being completely honest. Loki was seconds away from just coughing loudly, making his own presence known and forcing them apart. He didn't need to see this. Tony should have said something by now. …He supposed he was glad Tony at least acknowledged his presence and hadn't forgotten about him but still… he had better hurry up.

After a lingering moment Loki's wishes were granted and Tony pulled back giving her a smile. He couldn't wait any longer. He needed to tell her. He honestly hoped Loki wasn't planning to kill him in the back by now. "Ah, Pepper, I have a surprise for you."

Loki felt himself relax in the back, as the woman in the front did the exact opposite. "What… what is it?" she asked, almost sounding scared.

Tony looked down to his hands, and laughed awkwardly. "Ah, well.. you have to promise not to get too excited."

Pepper raised her eyebrows, "…What is it?" she asked again.

"Well," Tony winced, ". . . It's ah, actually right behind you."

Pepper smiled slightly, excited and turned in her seat almost immediately locking eyes with none other than the God of Mischief.

She screamed.

**Hey guys! I know I promised Pepper would only be a phone call. But then the new Iron Man 3 trailer came out, and Pepper… and I for some reason just pictured this happening and couldn't get it out of my mind! I hope the few of you that hate Pepper will bare with me over this, and the few that like her don't mind. :) Don't worry. She's not going on vacation with them. I think you'll all like what I have in store later with Loki anyways :) **


	7. Jealously?

**Chapter 7: Jealously?**

_Pepper smiled slightly, excited and turned in her seat almost immediately locking eyes with none other than the God of Mischief._

_She screamed._

_Loki_ screamed too and jumped high enough out of his seat that he banged his head on the roof. Although his helmet didn't give him much head room anyways.

Tony winced as he glanced from his girlfriend to his _new_ friend in the back, both looking like they'd just seen ghosts.

"Tony what the hell is going on!" Pepper screeched, turning away from the God in the back to interrogate him. She was pissed, _beyond _pissed. Her normally shining blue eyes were clouded, and creased with a deep frown. Tony definitely wasn't going to be able to worm his way out of this one easily.

Even so, you can't blame a man for trying. He held up his hands in a surrender, frantically searching his mind for the right thing to say without angering her further. "… Ah, wait wait, calm down… He's a friendly now. You know that. I've told you about the summer, right?" he looked back to Loki, hoping he wasn't glaring at her. Because hell, that guy had the death stare of all death stares. He didn't need Pepper freaking out at him for any other reasons.

Thankfully though for Tony, Loki only had his eyes wide, looking almost as scared as Pepper originally did. He sat in silence staring at the couple in the front, making fleeting eye contact with Pepper before he averted his eyes back to Tony.

Pepper could only raise her brows, staring at Tony like he was insane. "Me? Calm down? You bring an… an _alien_ in here, and expect me to _calm down_?!"

Tony cringed realizing now that saying 'calm down' had put him even further into the dog house than he already was. "No no no hey, I didn't mean calm down, ..well I did- but just look at him! He's more scared of you than you are of him! You know, like... how they say that about spiders?" he turned in his chair and made direct eye contact with Loki, taking a break from Pepper's hard gaze. He silently begged Loki for some sort of reassurance that he wasn't about to kill anybody.

Loki saw Tony's pleading look toward him and decided to at least try and help him. He took a deep breath, composing himself before he took a chance at speaking. "I can assure you, I am no threat." he said calmly to Pepper, even putting his slowly hands in the air as if to surrender. "Nor spider… " he assured, casting a look back over to Tony.

Tony sighed in relief, making a mental note to thank Loki for being so cooperative, "See Pepper? He's good. I told you he was fine when he came on vacation with us." he tried giving her some sort of a smile, but the look she was giving him made it turn into a grimace. "You have nothing to worry about. You've got_ Iron Man_ protecting you." he added, a little glint in his eye at the last bit. "Trust me."

After a long moment of hesitation, a few glances back to Loki, and cursing herself for ever letting Tony's puppy dog eyes get to her, Pepper let out a frustrated sigh and brought her hands up to rub at her temples. She wasn't sure if this was just some stress induced nightmare playing throughout her mind or the real thing any longer. But over all that, as angry as she was, she trusted him. "Please Tony… just get us home."

Tony opened his mouth as if to say something else but promptly shut it, and turned back to the wheel. "You got it." he chimed, quickly pulling out of the front and weaving his way out of the traffic.

* * *

They drove in a very _very_ awkward silence for the next few minutes, Tony having to turn off the radio after Pepper's polite request. Apparently her headache was much worse than she had let on.

The silence left Loki to his own thoughts in the back. On the outside he was calm, collected and staring out the window. When inside, his mind was racing a mile a minute. He wasn't sure what exactly was rendering him in this state of mind, but he was sure he didn't like it. Overanalyzing everything, just why Tony chose to bring him here and what Pepper would think of him later on. _Why did he care? _He took his gaze away from the cars whizzing past him in the opposite direction to Tony and then to Pepper. She was slumped slightly in her chair, looking absolutely miserable.

Loki wasn't sure how long he'd been staring at Pepper, but after what he assumed was a short while he saw Tony reach his hand out toward her, it landing on her hand. Pepper didn't move from her slumped position, but she did flip her hand over, taking his with hers.

Loki kept his eyes trained on their hands, somehow finding the interactions between the two of them much more interesting than the hustle and bustle outside. It was strange, seeing as how this woman appeared to be the complete opposite of Tony yet she'd agreed to a _relationship_ with him. He wondered absently just how much you'd have to care for someone to be able to look past their differences and accept them for who they were. It was thoughts like these that kept him up at night, and seeing it happen in front of him was really… intriguing to say the least.

"You doing alright Loks?"

That broke him out of his thoughts.

Loki looked away from their hands and up into the rearview mirror once again seeing Tony's eyes looking back at him. He nodded out of reflex.

Tony held his gaze for a moment longer before looking back to the road.

Loki let out a quiet sigh of relief. No one needed to know. He _couldn't_ let anyone know.

He couldn't let anyone know that he was the last thing from _alright_.

* * *

Tony had parked in his usual spot and got out, walking to the trunk to get out Pepper's luggage. Loki waited for Pepper to get out first, and then took a deep breath composing himself before he opened the door and carefully closed it behind him. He watched Tony take out her bags, and out of the corner of his eye he could see Pepper staring at him. Instead of giving her back a challenging grin, or a judging raise of his eyebrows he stayed silent, bringing his eyes to the ground.

Tony took out her bag and carried it in one hand. His other hand found Pepper's easily and Loki watched as their fingers interlocked as if it were routine.

They made their way into the elevator, and as the silence once again surrounded them Tony sighed. He looked over to Pepper and saw that her eyes were closed. Whether she just wanted to pretend that Loki wasn't there, or her headache really was that bad he wasn't exactly sure. He then brought his gaze over to Loki, seeing him staring at well, nothing in particular. He stuck his foot out and nudged Loki's boot with his toe, getting his attention. He mouthed, "You sure you're okay?" but before Loki had the chance to reply, the elevator dinged on the main floor where the lounge was.

Pepper looked up, glancing from the floor number and then back to Tony. This wasn't their floor. She thought they were going to _their _floor.

Loki awkwardly looked over to Tony, seeing as though he was making no move to get out of the elevator.

"Uh, Loks, I'm just going to get Pepper all settled in our room. It's fine if you just, hang around here for a bit?"

Loki made his way out the door without another word.

* * *

Back inside the elevator Tony winced, hoping he hadn't hurt Loki's feelings or anything, seeing as he just… stormed off. He tried to get those thought out of his head, and figured he had another thing to worry about right now, and that was the woman right beside him. He pressed the button for their floor, and then turned to face her, surprised by the look he got back. She was smiling.

"Loks?" She asked, an amused look on her features. "You have nicknames for him now?"

Tony raised an eyebrow at her, "Come on, don't be like that." he chastised, "He's a friend. And personally Loks sounds much better than saying Loki all the time."

"..._All _the time?" she asked again, wondering just how often they spent time together.

"…Well, when he's actually here, yes. I sort of am his only friend." It felt weird saying that, the realization of it all only hitting him now. He was Loki's _only _friend. Sure Steve was friendly _to_ him, and Thor was his brother but… actually being _friends?_ He had no one else.

Pepper only managed a bit of a tired chuckle. She supposed that seeing how Loki seemed more solemn rather than malicious she truly had nothing to worry about. And if Tony was _friends_ with him, well then she was just going to have to accept that. He was Tony Stark after all, she just thought he couldn't get any weirder. "Should I be jealous?" she added, her smile growing as she teased him and gave his hand a squeeze.

Tony grinned and pulled her to him, their faces close now. "I actually think it's the reverse." he chuckled, and leaned in to give her a kiss.

**Very insensitive Tony...  
But, guys, wow. I know it's been a while, but I haven't gone anywhere! It's also, almost summer again, and well, I think I'm still going to continue on with this even though it's set in winter. I just would like to let everyone know, that no, this will not be a **_**frostiron**_** story. It's categorized under **_**friendship**_**, and even though there are little hinty hints and people like Clint who keep assuming things, it won't get anywhere farther than a few awkward moments and borderline flirty comments. Okay, well, maybe a lot more than just a **_**few **_**awkward moments. I really hope this wont stop anyone from reading, and I apologize for leaving you guys for such a long time! It would mean an extreme amount to me if you could please leave a comment in the box telling me what your thoughts are on the story so far. Thanks you guys! :) **

**Please review! :) **


	8. Ready

**Chapter 7: Ready **

Loki quickly turned the corner away from the elevator, walking at a brisk pace. With his head down, arms crossed, and eyebrows furrowed, he was the perfect example of someone absolutely disturbed. He had good reasoning for it though, simply that he _was_. He was disturbed that Tony would bring him to get Pepper only to watch them be affectionate in front of him. He was disturbed that Pepper screamed at him and insisted that he was dangerous even after Tony told her he wasn't. _And_ he was disturbed that Tony had just _kicked_ him out of the elevator.

He was being sensitive.

And he hated it.

After a few good moments of him walking with his head down, he realized he didn't quite know where he was going. He didn't even know _where_ to go. He never really had free roam of this floor, or any floor to be honest. He was always being ushered along, or following Tony.

_Tony. _

He sighed and kept on with his walking. It would be ridiculous to say he was jealous. Well, ridiculous in the sense that it was because he was upstairs with Pepper. He was just jealous that Tony wasn't with_ him. _With another dramatic sigh he realized how childish he was being and stopped walking. His blind route had apparently taken him to the living room.

He looked around, noting that no one was in sight and sat down on one of the couches. He looked across to the couch opposite him realizing he was finally alone. He could remember back to the summer, when all he wanted was to be alone. He begged for the solitude of a quiet few moments. But now? It was different. As much as he tried to make himself believe that his 'punishment' hadn't done anything to him mentally, it was times like these where he realized he just couldn't trick himself anymore.

He'd changed.

He was jumpy, craved attention, and just didn't know what to do with himself without the direction of others.

He hated it.

His eyes started to glaze over as his mind wandered into the memories and moments of the past. He sat there, for a little over a while, thinking over the past, the summer, and the present. Wondering just where Tony was. He said he'd be down right after he got Pepper settled, he didn't… forget about him, did he?

Just as he began to grow a little worried over the fact that that had happened, off to his right, a door opened and sounds of someone panting flooded through the room.

"Is that the last trip?" came what sounded like a very out of breath Clint.

Loki'd be lying to say he wasn't a little disappointed.

Steve placed his hands on his hips as he rounded the corner, "Yeah, I think we got it all."

Loki turned behind him on the couch only to see Clint and Steve standing beside each other with their luggage at their feet. Clint was red in the face, veins popping out on his arms, and Steve looked absolutely fine.

Natasha came through the door not a second later, also looking like she'd just gone for a nice walk on the beach. She looked at Clint and raised a brow to his out of breath appearance. "You okay?" she said with a little smirk.

Clint frowned, "I'm fine." he dismissed, "What the hell do you have in here anyways? Weights?"

Natasha gave a little shrug. "Just because it's a vacation doesn't mean I can stop working out."

Clint's eyes widened, "Wait, these actually _are_ weights!?"

She just chuckled lightly and gave his arm a pat as she walked past him and more into the living room.

Loki turned back around in his seat, sitting forward again as if he hadn't been eavesdropping.

"Oh, hey Loki." Steve said with a smile, only noticing him now. "Didn't see you there."

Loki gave a bit of a nod to at least show he'd heard him, still a little put off by the fact that it wasn't Tony and the possibility of being forgotten was still plausible.

Clint came around and leaned on one of the chairs, stretching out his back. "You down here alone? Where's your boyfriend?"

Loki gave him an amused smile and raised an eyebrow, knowing if Clint heard his disappointed tone, the teasing would only continue. "Upstairs with his girlfriend."

"Oh Pepper's here?" Steve asked, coming to sit on the edge of Loki's couch.

He nodded, "We just got back from retrieving her from the airport."

Natasha piped in at that point. "Oh, I didn't know she was coming back today."

Loki smirked, "Neither did Tony."

Natasha let out a little bit of a laugh, walking over to where Clint was. "Of course he didn't. It's Tony. He can barely tie his own shoes without Pepper, let alone remember anything."

Loki quirked a brow, finding that rather strange. Before now, he barely knew who the woman was, and learning that she was a key detail in Tony's life was… interesting. "Really?" he asked, feigning nonchalance.

Natasha nodded, "Yeah. I'm surprised she's been able to stick with him for this long. I worked for him for a few days and was barely able to keep my sanity. I don't know how she's done it for eleven years."

_Eleven years? _That was much longer than he expected. Eleven years and after spending two months with Tony he'd barely heard a thing about her, "Interesting…" he hummed, seeming skeptical of it all.

"Then again, they've only been _together _for a much shorter time."

_Ah, that made more sense. _Loki nodded, thankful for the information.

Steve turned his head to Loki and gave him a bit of a smile, "So, do you have anything to bring for the trip tomorrow?" he asked him, "We were just about to load up."

"Tony was preparing a suitcase for myself with a few of his shirts." he replied, "Although we didn't get very far before we had to go pick up Pepper."

"Only shirts?" he asked, "Wouldn't some other things be nice to have?"

Loki gave him a flat look. "It would be ideal."

Steve winced a bit from his tone. "Maybe we could get another bag from Shield for you to use." he suggested. "Or you could borrow some stuff from, Thor maybe?" he tried with a helpful shrug.

Loki grimaced from the thought. The bag that he'd used prior from Shield was filled with cheap clothes, and he couldn't imagine the type of pants they'd be giving him. Yet borrowing from Thor would mean _talking_ to him. Then again, he'd at least have pants that would fit. "Hm, I'm not so sure."

Steve seemed to catch the vibe he was giving off and had an idea. "And well, if you don't want to borrow from Thor, I have a few things I could probably spare. …Why don't you go get your bag, and bring it down here. I'll see what I can give you."

Loki was surprised at the offer, but managed a grin over the suggestion. Avoiding Thor was always a thing to smile over. "Thank you." he replied, truthfully for once.

Steve smiled back, seeing as if he'd only done the right thing, and continued to do so as he watched Loki leave for the elevator.

Once he left, Clint frowned and faced Steve. "...Seriously, you're going to let him wear your _clothes_?"

Steve just looked to him unimpressed.

* * *

Loki made his way into the elevator and hit the number for Tony's floor. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that Tony hadn't come down as promised. How long could taking Pepper to bed be? He honestly didn't care that he was spending time with her, he just didn't like how he told him he'd be down in a few moments and …. lied. Ironic, really.

Once the elevator opened, he made his short way down the hallway and to Tony's door. Seeing as though it was closed, he knocked twice.

On the other side of the door, Tony and Pepper were laying together in bed. The lights were off, and Pepper was snuggled into his side. She still had her headache, but once learning he'd be gone for the remaining of the winter, she wanted to spend as much time with him as possible.

And he certainly agreed.

When they heard the knock, Pepper groaned and snuggled deeper into Tony's chest. Apparently the shirt he was wearing was too dark and she missed having her nightlight around, so it was only plausible for her to remove his shirt. Not like he was complaining.

As much as Tony wanted to pretend he didn't hear the knock and stay comfortable in bed, his curiosity got the better of him. "Come in!" he called, making Pepper's eyes shoot open.

"Tony!" she hissed, leaning up to glare at him.

He frowned, realizing that probably wasn't the smartest thing. "Ah wait, don't come in! One second." he corrected and got out of the bed to open the door himself.

Once he saw who was behind it, the guilt hit him like a brick wall.

"Loki! Ah… Oh, man… I was supposed to meet you downstairs, wasn't I?" he said, bringing his hand up to rub at his forehead and then run through his already messy hair.

Loki looked unfazed, although the confirmation that he did in fact forget him made him more than disappointed. Putting two and two together, seeing Tony without his shirt on and knowing Pepper was in the room made him feel all the more uncomfortable. "I need my suitcase."

Tony frowned, confused as to why he received such a short answer. "…Uh, okay." he said, glancing behind him and seeing the two bags on the ground by the bed. "Come in for a sec."

"Tony!" Pepper called again, now sitting up against the headrest.

"What?" he called back, "It's not like we were doing anything." he mumbled, waving Loki into the bedroom as he turned on the lights.

Pepper huffed and pulled the blankets over her head,

Loki followed him and raised an eyebrow. Seeing a shirtless Tony with his hair all mused, and Pepper hiding herself under the covers? It was certainly hard to believe that they weren't_ doing anything_.

Tony got his bag, zipped it up for him, and handed it over, giving him a bit of sad smile. "I put some more shirts in there for you."

Loki nodded, taking the bag. "The Captain has offered to share some things as well."

Tony smiled, "Good ol' Steve. At least his pants will fit." he said with a little chuckle.

Loki managed a bit of a smile and made his way over to the door. Tony ended up following him, and stopped once they were in the hallway.

"Loki," he began, catching his attention. "I _am_ sorry about not coming down. I just, had to tell Pepper about the trip, and we wouldn't be seeing each other and then she…"

Loki shook his head. "You don't have to excuse yourself. She is your girlfriend." he stated.

Tony gave him a bit of an odd look. "…She is."

Loki nodded once again, pausing for a moment. "I shall see you tomorrow then, if you can… manage your way out of bed." he added with a roll of his eyes. With that, he turned on his heel and went to the elevator, taking his suitcase with him.

Tony smirked a bit to himself, shaking his head. "Later Loks."

He watched him descend down the hallway before going back into the room to Pepper, seeing her looking rather unimpressed.

He rolled his eyes and turned off the light, climbing back into bed with her. "What?"

Pepper closed her eyes, and reluctantly pulled an arm around him. "Nothing."

Tony frowned, "Come on, what?" he pressed, wrapping his own arm around her now.

Pepper shook her head, and let out a sigh, "You let him into our room."

"And?" Tony said, raising a brow. "Like I said, we weren't doing anything." he said, clearly not understanding her reasoning. "Unless, you count a little bit of kissing…" he teased, leaning down to gently bring his lips to hers.

Pepper rolled her eyes, but kissed him back, pulling back after a short moment. "It's not about that. It's just that… this is our room. It's personal."

Tony raised a brow. "So should I tell him he's not allowed in anymore? Like a child in their parents room?" he smirked.

Pepper paused, and then began nodding. "That's exactly it."

Tony frowned, "What, seriously? I was joking."

Pepper shook her head. "I'm not. He basically is a child. He follows you around looking like a lost one."

"That's because he is lost." Tony countered, "Just because you're lost doesn't mean you're a child."

Pepper chuckled softly to herself. "Okay Tony."

Tony nodded, "Yeah… that's right." he said, snuggling down a bit closer to her. He felt like he'd won the 'argument' yet, now that was all he could think about.

Loki was exactly like a child.

A completely damaged, weirdly tall, sassy little child.

And Tony didn't particularly care.

**Hey! How's everyone been? I've been thinking about this for the longest time, and I've only had the time to write bits and pieces, but I managed to get this one out FINALLY for you guys! What do you think of Tony and Loki so far? What about Pepper? Leave a comment! **

**Please review and tell me what you think! :) **


	9. Off to the Races

**Chapter 9: Off to the Races**

It was 5 am Saturday morning, and the Avengers were finally ready for their winter vacation.

Well, _almost _all of them.

The armoured avenger was still yet to show up, and after multiple attempts at calling his cell, there was still no contact with Tony Stark.

Steve, Clint, Bruce, Thor, Natasha, and even Loki were all seated in the twinjet on the roof, and had been for the past 10 minutes, waiting for Tony to show up. He had no real excuse to be late, and the team was debating over whether to be worried or pissed off that he hadn't showed. Bruce had tried his cell a few times, and it was either off or dead, since he wasn't getting anything.

It was still dark out, and a light dusting of snow was beginning to cover the top of the helicopter pad on the roof where they were all supposed to meet. There was a slight wind and it didn't help being stuck in the cold metal jet at the top of the tower.

A chill ran through cabin and sent shivers down a few of their spines, and finally got a reaction out of one of them.

"Can you please turn on the heat?" asked Natasha, who had just finished strapping down the last of their bags.

Clint was sitting in the cockpit, impatiently waiting for Tony. "Yeah, yeah." he said, flipping on the switch and flinching as the air came out cold. "Will someone please go check on him? I swear, he better be unconscious or I'm going to kick his- "

"I'll get him." Loki volunteered, standing up from his seat in the back. He was only wearing a black long sleeve shirt that Steve had let him borrow, along with the pants he'd managed to save for himself as well. Everyone thought he was crazy but Thor, who was also dressed relatively light for the colder weather.

"Good, go quickly." Clint said, sighing as the air finally turned warm in the front.

He looked behind him and waited until Loki was long gone before he turned to his copilot. "You know, this is weird." he commented, watching as Natasha came and joined him in the front.

"What is?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Being able to trust Loki, to walk around the tower alone. I mean, if he went and killed someone right now, who's fault would that be? Mine?"

Natasha shrugged. "I'm sure you could blame it on Fury somehow. We were told to bring him on vacation. Not babysit him."

Clint sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Not this time at least."

xxx

Loki was making his way quickly, as asked, down the stairs and through the hallway that lead to Tony's room. He felt a slight pain in his back as he took the multiple stairs instead of the elevator and sighed, placing his hand on his hip for the last stair.

Last night, after retrieving his suitcase from Tony, Steve invited him into his room to help him pack. Steve was given a lot of extra clothes when he first was found in the ice, and since then Tony had taken him shopping to get him some more 'modern' clothes, as he had put it. So, he had quite the wardrobe that he didn't use as frequent, and allowed Loki free pick from everything he hadn't packed already.

Loki appreciated Steve's gesture, and decided to go easier on the man. He wasn't picky with his clothes, and mostly stuck with darker colours, and a few undergarments he'd never seen before. Steve insisted they were new though, so he hesitantly placed a few pairs of boxers into his suitcase without any further questions.

Loki had given him a soulful quiet thank you before he began to lug the now somewhat full suitcase out of the room. Before he got completely out though, Steve called out to him and asked if he wanted to stay for a bit and hangout. He knew Loki had nothing to do really without Tony around, and thought it would be a kind enough offer.

Loki had hesitated, and and clenched his fist that didn't have the suitcase occupying it. As much as he hated everyone, and quite frankly, everything, he was beginning to grow a tad more fond of Steve, and the last thing he wanted to do was go into his own room for the night and lay awake for hours.

So, awkwardly turning back on his heel, Loki nodded and Steve smiled.

They'd ended up just chilling in the TV room, flicking through late night talk shows and just conversing with each other. Loki didn't really say much, but he was finding he enjoyed being in the presence of others. Solitude just wouldn't do for him any longer. He'd been alone with his own thoughts for far too long, so hearing someone else's was rather refreshing for the time being.

Even though they all knew they had to be up early the next morning, it didn't stop any of them from staying up pretty late. They said they could sleep on the twinjet anyways, to which Clint pouted and said wasn't fair, since he couldn't sleep.

That didn't stop them though, and not too long after, Clint grumbled away and went into his room to get somewhat of a good sleep.

Natasha felt bad and followed after him, sighing and actually saying goodnight to everyone first.

Bruce, Steve, Thor and Loki stayed up for a little while longer. They'd gotten into talking about some of the things they could be doing at Tony's vacation spot and all ended up just exciting themselves further.

Loki would never admit it, and even though he didn't understand half the terms they were speaking about, he was a little excited too.

It was nearing 12 o'clock when the rest of the team decided to head to bed. Thor was beginning to nod off in his chair, Steve couldn't stop yawning, and Bruce actually took initiative and stood up, telling them all that it would be smart to head to bed.

They all agreed and went off into their separate directions, and Loki even gave a "Goodnight." to them all.

Even Thor.

In the slightly good mood he was in, Loki didn't feel like going up the stairs to Tony's floor and passing the room he knew he was not welcome in, and the other room to which he did not want to feel welcome in.

He knew he couldn't go back into that room and sleep in that bed without having nightmares of when he was taken, and decided that he wouldn't.

He would sleep here. On the couch.

And so he did, which brings us back to now, and the reason for his aching back.

It was nothing horrible, more like a dull ache that was more bothersome than painful. And with his bothersome little ache, he made his way down the corridor and right to Tony's door where he didn't hesitate to bang violently three times against the door.

He didn't care if he was being rude. Tony was late, and being late was rude. So, he knocked another three times, just as hard, before he finally got an answer.

"Mmgah yeah, yeah! I'm coming! Jeez!" Came Tony's reply through the thick wood of the door.

Loki flattened his gaze and debated over saying something or just waiting patiently.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Tony said again, sounding out of breath, and allowing Loki to choose the latter and just stay silent, arms crossed against his chest.

A few seconds later, Tony opened the door and sighed when he saw it was just Loki. "Loks, hey…" he breathed out, sounding rather relieved.

Pepper on the other hand, didn't look as relieved. She was standing directly behind him and Loki swore he could of seen her swallow.

"Everyone's waiting." Loki said flatly, glancing away from the woman behind him to Tony, who was haphazardly dressed in a pair of jeans and a hoodie that looked like it was thrown on in a last minute decision. His hair was mused, and his cheeks slightly flushed, matching the same shade as Pepper's.

Loki decided to assume he was rushing to get ready and she was helping him. That was all.

"Then let's not make them wait any longer, right?" Tony said, clearing his throat and walking into the hallway with Pepper hot on his tail.

Loki sighed and walked alongside him, finding himself unusually perturbed by the man he decided to call his friend.

They made the walk back up to the helicopter pad, Loki's spine clicking on nearly every step, and if Tony or Pepper noticed they didn't say anything.

Finally they got to the top, and sensing Tony and Pepper slowing down, Loki kept walking past them and up the stairs to the jet. He thought Tony would be right behind him, but when he looked back he saw Tony clinging onto Pepper as they shared what seemed to be a rather… passionate moment.

With a very long and heavy sigh, Loki took the last step inside and resumed his original seat in the back, grimacing as his back popped again.

"He's alive?" asked Clint from the front, not sounding any happier than he was before.

"He was occupied." Loki replied, sounding unamused.

"Occupied with what?"

"His girlfriend, I'd assume." Loki said simply.

Bruce sighed at Loki's tone and shook his head.

A few seconds later Tony climbed in, shivering when he got inside, "Whew, someone turn the heat on in here, it's freezing!"

Everyone stared at him unimpressed. "We've been waiting for nearly 20 minutes, what the hell were you doing in there?" huffed Steve, who seemed more than unimpressed by his tardiness.

Tony rolled his eyes and walked past Steve with his suitcase, patting him once on the shoulder. "Nothing you need to worry about gramps." he shot, lifting his case into one of the compartments as Clint started up the engines, making Tony stumble and fall back into his seat.

"Gah, could of at least waited till I sat down?" Tony said, rubbing his hip where he fell right across from Loki.

"Could of shown up on time?" Clint shot back, shaking his head and putting on his headphones, the sign that he was completely done and ready to go. "Next time keep it in your pants or we're gonna leave you behind." he huffed.

Tony smirked at the comment and shrugged, "That's nice Clint, but ah, might I remind you just who's lodge we're going to?" he said with a bit more snark than was good for him.

No one laughed.

**Hey guys! Sorry this hasn't been updated in a while, but they're off now! Also, I finally updated my bio after four years, so I've got my Tumblr on there if anyone wants it! Hope you guys are having a great summer! **

**Thanks! :) **


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